165 lbs. of Chewed Bubblegum....

I was reading an earlier story about “Moto platoon” and it spurred this memory. I enlisted in the delayed entry program in April of ’74 and arrived at M.C.R.D. San Diego on Sept. 23, ’74 (Plt.3105). As the title indicated, I weighed 165 lbs. at 6 foot nothing, and was also a “Nerd” of sorts. Hung out with my “T.V. production” class and was not involved in sports at all during school. When it came time to do pull-ups during the initial days of first phase, I couldn’t do one pull-up. So for the next 2.9 months, every day after morning, noon and night chow call, I was at the pull-up bars doing pull-ups with my “Helper”. Needless to say, I was more than able to do the minimum to pass the P.F.T. for graduation. When my first wife and I went to the premier of “Full Metal Jacket”, and Gunny Hartman yelled at Pvt. Pyle “You look like 165 lbs. of chewed bubblegum” it brought back that particular memory. I was threatened with Motto a few times but I guess my slow but eventual improvement helped them come to the proper decision and let me graduate with my platoon on time. When I graduated in Dec. of ’74, I stood 6’1″ tall and weighed 135 lbs.! Wish I weighed that now. Semper Fi!